Through our very own editors and guest writers, this blog will discuss the INSIDE scoop on the admissions process of various schools and programs. If you wish to ask a specific question, please write to us, and we will make every attempt to address your questions in our future blog discussions.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Bad Legal Job Market Worse for Lower-Tier Law Schools

The big news about law school over the past several years has really been its bleak landscape. But how bad is it, really, for the top 20 schools?

Not that bad. In fact, their knees haven't even been grazed by it.

When it comes to Elitism with a capital "e", it is nowhere more alive and well than in the law school realm. The headlines are stark. Last year saw the lowest numbers sitting the LSAT exam, ever. Applicant numbers are at the lowest they've been since the 1970s (when there were fewer law schools). Law schools are laying off faculty, reducing class sizes, eliminating aid packages, and trimming courses.

The tough legal job market means that it is taking graduates longer to get employed and, when they do, they are, on average, earning less. This makes the effort and the price tag for most law schools rather unappealing.

The thing is, all of these factors are disproportionately affecting the lower tier schools. In the competitive legal job market (from clerkships to big firms), school name has always been important. But with fewer jobs available these days, employers are more likely to skim even less cream off the top. The Yale Law grad is very likely to outrank her evenly matched competitor at a less prestigious school.

So as a general rule, top tier schools aren't hurting. Most in the top 14 have classes of fewer than 300 students anyhow meaning that the elite schools don't need many to apply in order to fill seats with highly qualified candidates.

What does this mean to law school hopefuls? Make sure you really want it. Then do your research to see where you're likely to end up. Where you go may be more important than what you do once you get there.